Ohana' means Family~ PTR About This Page:

[Linnynad]

Hi friends!!!
For those of you who know me, hello again, and for those of you who don’t I’m Linny and I’m back with another PTR/TR!! This trip has been planned for just about a year now and I am super excited to get started on this PTR as I am just about 35 days away!!! Here is the rundown……

WHO is going on this trip??? Well let’s see…
Me: Linny, Linda, Lin, soon to be 38 (in just a few short days thank you) has been to the world many times but it wasn’t until I became a parent that I have gotten super obsessed with traveling to Disney. I love all the characters but I have to say my most favorite thing to do while in the world is to watch Wishes!!! From the hub on MS, or the beach at the Poly. Brings tears to my eyes every time.

Arnaud: 37. The hubs….for any of you ever wondering how to pronounce his name, it’s ARNO. Of course if you are a sassy European like his parents, you would have a nice little accent to it. I don’t. He was never to Disney as a kid, but somehow has managed to be going every year since 2007 with me!!! His most favorite thing about being in the world would be eating at Ohana’ and having a daily Mickey Bar!!

Josie: Will be turning 5 just after this trip!! This girl has quite a few Disney trips under her belt now. Her favorite things to do in the world are just about everything!!! Her fave princesses (at the moment) are Rapunzel, Jasmine and Mulan. However recently she has a new HUGE obsession with Lilo and Stitch……more on that in a minute though.

Andre: Will be 21 months at the time of this trip. He has been on a DCL last year at 9 months, but guess what gang??? This will be his FIRST VISIT to the world!!!!! I am beyond excited for this cat. His favorite characters are Mickey and the fab five……..and Pete the Cat!!! Wish we could run into him.

WHEN: Sep 10-19th.

WHERE: Polynesian!!!

WHY:……..uhmmmm, really?? Do I need a reason? Well OK, if I must how about just a family vacation and also celebrate Josie turning a whole hand old and Andre’s first visit!

For those of you who have followed some of my other TR’s you are probably noticing a few changes with the dates and resort. Well let me catch you all up on that.

Last Oct we sailed on the Disney Dream in October, but stayed one night at the BC before the cruise. There was a BB offer in the room for FD, so we jumped on it. The offer expired on Sep 29th. We like to travel later than that but went with it anyway. We booked Sep 24th- Oct 3rd and were still able to get the FD package. We knew we wanted to go back to the GF this time around, so that is what we booked.

Now with that all in place the only other thing to do now was sit around and wait till ADR time. About a week before that was to happen, Arnaud asked me what are dates were again because he had a business trip around the same time. Uhm, it was for the exact same time. YIKES!!!! I quickly called and priced out going a few weeks later, knowing I would lose the FD. The price difference was outrageous!!! So I asked about a few weeks earlier. That was actually like $200 cheaper. So we went with those earlier dates. Not real happy about traveling in the beginning of the school year, but Josie is still just in pre-school because of her Oct b-day, I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal.

Now with that taken care of I went into serious panic mode because now I was in the 180 mark for ADR’s and was certain I would get nadda of what we wanted. I frantically went online and within an hour was able to get EVERYTHING we wanted for just about the times we wanted too. I am still in shock over that one.

So now we just sit and wait till our trip gets here. However, a little surprise trip snuck in on me when just Josie and I went for down for a few days in May, and while there I changed my BB offer to what they had going at that time, which was for 30% off. I managed to save quite a bit more money there too. So in the end, that little trip was worth it in my eyes.

So now really, we just sit and wait for our trip. Until my good PP friend Kelly (OhToodles) messaged me about a TON of closures going on at GF during our stay. OOOhhhhhhh heck no!!! I was on the phone in minutes!! I knew of the DVC construction, and that did not bother me at all, but having the main pool, Gasparilla’s and the main gift shop all closed during our time there was a BIG problem with me. We are resort people and spend a lot of time there. Those closures would directly impact our stay. So again I called to see if I could maybe switch to the Poly, and to our luck I could and saved a few more bucks!

At first I was bummed to miss out on GF but then I thought about my very first trip, was at the Poly. Josie’s very first trip was at the Poly. Now my sweet boy’s first real trip to the world will be at the Poly too!! Plus a new favorite movie Josie has found now would be Lilo and Stitch, both of the movies too!! We have to watch them here quite often…….which will bring me to the name of this PTR!

I like to use song titles for my reports, but I was really drawing a blank here. Then came this obsession with Lilo and Stitch and how everything we do know has to be about Hawaii and hula dancing. Josie quotes that movie a million times a day and while tucking her into bed one night, with her new Stitch stuffy I might add, she says to me…” Ohana means family mom, and I love my family!” Heart melting!!!!!! You are so right my baby girl. Ohana does mean family, and now I have my sweet little family of 4 and we are all heading to the world, together, for the very first time. It couldn’t be more fitting.

[OhToodles!]

Could I be the first to comment?!

OK, how did I not know/realize that our birthdays are only a week apart?! (I had to look at FB for the exact date.)
And it's funny that you put in there how to pronounce Arnaud's name as I had no idea until I heard you say it the first time we met and I was like oh! that's how you say it.
So excited the little man Andre is going on his 1st trip!!!!
And the boys have recently been introduced to Lilo & Stitch and it's becoming a hit. Dylan says he's getting a Stitch next month.

Can't wait for more!!

[mcc0313]

The PTR begins...glad you were able to change to the Poly, I would not want to be there with all those changes as well. Construction I can deal with but the main pool, counter service and general store...definitely not where I would want to stay either and how perfect that Andre's first trip will be at the Poly too

[lauriep]

It all sounds wonderful, Linny! And the changes you had to make ended up making it even better. I can't believe Josie will be turning FIVE!

[JKnott17]

I'm glad I got in at the beginning

Thanks for throwing in that little tidbit about pronouncing Arnaud's name. I have to admit, I had no idea how to say it, and the correct way is nothing like what I was saying in my head as I read along with your past TRs

There were so many changes going on with this trip, but in the end it seems like they all worked out. You got to save a few bucks, and it seems fitting that Andre's first trip is at the Poly too. I'm so excited for you guys!

35 days is so close! Looking forward to the rest of your plans

[sc507]

Great start Linny! Sounds like all the changes were meant to be - how sweet that yours and both of your kiddos first stays are at the Poly

[lissybri]

I'm so excited to read your TR. Can't wait.

[Principessa_di_Fata]

Love the PTR so far! I'm excited for Meri to play with Josie (though she's really into babies and little kids, so she might give much of her attention to Andre, lol).

I'm glad you were able to change from the GF to the Poly - that would mess with my trip, too, to have to deal with all of those closures, so I'm with you there!

[JenniferIL]

Great start!

[lexiemom]

Great start, Linny! What a sweet explanation of your TR title, Josie sounds like such a sweet girl. I just bought Lexi Lilo and Stitch for her 5th birthday last month and now that is a new obsession at our house too!

I am glad you were able to get your resort situation all figured out and save a few bucks in the process!

[dsteiny23]

I'm not too far behind
I love that all of your first trips will be at the Poly. Not too shabby for a first trip for anyone.
I can't wait to see pics of Andre with all of his favorite characters. And Josie can be the 'veteran' of the trip and show him the ropes.
Tell Josie that Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride is my ring tone on my phone

[jlhill4444]

Sounds like this trip was just meant to happen at the Poly! We are staying there for the first time in Jan, so I am really looking forward to your trip report to hear all about it. I am also curious how you do with having a toddler as we will have one in Jan for her first trip also. Any tips would be great!

Looking forward to more!

[EddieCVS]

Great start!

[mfirst]

Great start Linny! I your title! My youngest is a huge Lilo and Stitch freak

Very cool how all y'all's first trips = Poly stays! I love that hotel and can't wait to stay there again someday!

Can't wait to read more

[OCEANGRLLG]

I was hopeing you were goin to be starting this soon! Great start!